Personnel of the European Union's Operation Atalanta naval task force have arrested six people in connection with a failed attempt to hijack a commercial vessel in the waters off Somalia late last week.
The suspects had attempted to board the Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker Chrystal Arctic while it was underway 100 nautical miles north of the Somali city of Bosaso on Friday, May 10.
After the boarding attempt was repelled by the tanker's embarked private security team, an Operation Atalanta warship that was in the vicinity of the incident arrived to render assistance. The warship's crew then took the six suspects under their custody.
Some of the perpetrators suffered injuries during the exchange of gunfire with the security personnel on Chrystal Arctic.
Officials said an Operation Atalanta warship has since headed to Seychelles with the suspects on board for further processing as part of the investigation into the incident.
